Brothers in Arms
by lanuitestcalme
Summary: Loki changes his course of action in the standoff at the Bifrost, forever changing the future. AU. Complete.
1. I

**Author's Note: This will be a multi-chaptered piece. Basically, I'm considering one of the many ways in which the ending of ****Thor**** the film could be altered. In other words, this is AU. **

**Disclaimer: I do not know any of the names, places, objects, or concepts that you recognize. I own only my plot.**

Loki cannot breathe. It is like a weight, heavy and strong, is placed upon his thin chest. He tries to heave, to force the air around him to enter his desperate lungs, but this weight pushes down upon him and prevents the necessary contraction of muscles.

He then tries to sit up, to rise from his supine position. There is still, however, that oppressive object upon his chest, and he cannot rise. He bangs his fists upon the glass bridge beneath him, but this expression of temper does little to aid him.

Loki turns his head to the side, and he is glad that at least this small movement is permitted to him. His little supply of air, however, is dwindling fast.

He watches his brother, his once-protector and his now-enemy, walk forward, anger in his footsteps. His brother turns around to regard Loki, and his gaze is frightful.

Loki struggles to clear his throat, to allow himself to speak. He looks down at the weight and realizes that it is Thor's infamous hammer. A weapon of the sort that never would have been given to Loki, the second son. The son not even related by blood, when it came down to it. The runt of the Frost Giants, left to perish because no one wanted him.

And even now, it seems as though his brother does not want him.

Thor walks towards the heart of the Bifrost with purpose, but Loki can see the hesitation in his footsteps. Before Thor even reaches his destination, Loki deigns to speak to him.

"Just look at you," he taunts. "So strong, and what good has that strength brought you, now? You can't stop fate. There's nothing you can do, nothing you can do to change the future, for it is written in the stars!"

Thor turns around, facing him. Loki thinks that he is imagining it, but he can see tears coursing down his brother's cheeks. Tears for a lover lost. Tears for a charmed life now broken.

Suddenly, the weight is gone from his chest, and Loki can breathe again. He brings in a large gasp of air, rolling over to his side. He coughs once, but stops in surprise as he sees what Thor is doing.

Thor is bringing his hammer, that magic weapon, down hard against the glittering glass of the bridge. Fear runs through his veins now, hot as liquid fire, as he watches his brother destroy such a landmark of his childhood.

He sits up, his bones moving stiff from fatigue and hurt. Thor continues, laying fierce blows against the bridge, ceaseless and emotionless. Loki can see that now only one hit is all that it will take to destroy the bridge, and therefore the Bifrost, forever.

Loki stands, shaking, and leans upon his staff for support. "If you destroy the bridge," he yells, desperate for his brother to hear him. "If you destroy the Bifrost, you'll never see your lover again!"

His brother does not hear him shout, or perhaps, he simply chooses not to listen.

Angrily, Loki runs forward, his body protesting each movement. As he reaches Thor, he wraps his long arms around him, bringing him down to the ground.

It is just in time, for the bridge is hanging on by a single filament of glass, but it is wide enough to cross. The Bifrost is saved.

And it is then that he notices that Thor, he who was once so strong and so fiery, is sobbing in his arms.

Wearily, he pulls himself and his brother away from the near-destroyed structure. He drags the heavy weight of Thor towards the castle, towards home, towards his father. Or, well, Odin. He does not know if he will be permitted to call the All-Father his own father now, after all that he has done, after all that he has sinned.

Thor buries his blond head into Loki's armor, and Loki spares a glance down to him. His brother, once so powerful, brash, and bold, is reduced to a crying young man who believes that he has lost everything. Loki does not understand it, but somehow, Thor fell in love with a mortal girl. Loki could not see how she was any different than the Asgardian women, but his brother's mind had worked in strange ways before.

Loki leans down, close to his brother's ear. "Brother," he whispers. "You're safe." He uses words that Thor had used on countless occasions with him. Loki had been one of those children who had trouble sleeping, for fear of nightmares and unnamed monsters. Thor, though, had always been able to yank him from the throes of fear.

Perhaps he is returning the favor now, he reasons with himself. Perhaps he is simply trying to convince his brother to return to sanity.

Thor looks up at him, blue eyes meeting green eyes. "Yes," he sighs. "But I'm not happy."

"You have your life," Loki replies softly. "Is that not happiness enough?"

"I am not with my Jane," Thor murmurs, laying his head weakly upon Loki's armored shoulder. "I will never…never see her again."

Loki rolls his eyes at his brother's words, but he puts on a comforting face for his benefit. "Perhaps you shall see her once more," he reassures him. "The Bifrost has not yet been completely destroyed."

"But…" Thor rips himself from Loki's grasp and turns around to face the structure. True to Loki's words, the Bifrost is still mostly intact. Yes, it is leaning rather disturbingly to the right, but it has not exploded as Loki thinks it might have.

"See, brother?" Loki says, a smirk on his face. "You can return to Midgard and your human girl, now, if you so desire."

Thor whips around to look at Loki, tearing his eyes from his passage back to Jane Foster. "Yes…" he says, but Loki can hear the nervous note in his voice. "But would it be right?"

"You never doubted yourself before, brother," Loki says. He shifts so that he and Thor are sitting side by side on the fragile bridge. "So why do you have cause to doubt yourself now?"

"Father needs me. I will be king now that I have returned," Thor says. "It would be disrespectful to ignore his wishes to follow my heart back to Midgard."

"But you love her," Loki says, and for once, his intentions are honest. Ordinarily, he would have said such a thing in hopes of convincing his brother to leave Asgard. Such a convenient disappearance on Thor's part would leave the throne to fall to Loki, and that arrangement was perfectly agreeable, even coveted, by the younger brother. But now, he thinks, he simply wants to return to how they were as children, innocent and perfect despite the rifts about to form between them. He wants his brother to live and to love again, to be free of cares and worries again.

Loki himself desires a similar fate, but he has no girl in Midgard waiting for him, and so he does not have an easy excuse from Asgard. But with Thor gone, there will be no more sibling rivalries, and perhaps he too will achieve peace through that.

"I do love her," Thor agrees. "I love her more than any words can describe, Loki." His tone is pleading now, as if Loki can bring them together this instant, perhaps with his magic.

"Then go to her."

Thor nods, but then, Odin appears, quick as only a god can be. He leans on one knee in front of his estranged children, a mixture of intense sadness and happiness upon his worn face.

Odin lays a hand upon each of his sons' shoulders, looking at them each in turn.

"Thor," he says, "Loki. My sons, my beautiful sons. What happened to you?"

Loki opens his mouth to speak, but Thor beats him to it. "Frost Giants attacked," he lies, hoping that the All-Father will not catch him in his feeble try of Loki's greatest talent, "And they attempted to bring down the Bifrost. I beat them off with my hammer, but they had already gotten to work on the bridge. Loki found me, I'm not sure how, and he aided me in their defeat."

Odin looks warmly at his sons, a soft smile upon his face. "This is how it should be," he says. "At last, my two sons are comrades in arms once again." He pats Loki's shoulder, and the black-haired son winces.

Drawing back, Odin stands. "To the infirmary, then, I suppose." He watches as Thor carefully helps Loki rise, the two leaning upon each other for support. He leads the way, looking back occasionally to be sure that the two are not playing tricks with him.

But of course, they are not.

They are brothers once more.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


	2. II

**Author's Note: Now, the plot thickens. I will try to update as often as possible, but I may not get another update out before the weekend. We'll see, though!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters, places, or objects. I own only the plot!**

Loki dreams, and it is quite unpleasant.

He finds himself in a garden, not unlike the gardens of Midgard. A white picket fence surrounds it, and he can distantly hear children playing and shouting.

He is sitting on a bench, and he cannot for the life of him remember how he got there. He supposes, though, that that is how dreams are supposed to work. You find yourself at a spot, not knowing how you got there. What matters, after all, is what you do once you are there.

He decides to stand up, brushing flecks of dirt from his coat sleeves. He looks around the garden, observing flowers, pink with spring, and huge trees. The trunks are so big that he does not think even his brother could wrap his arms around them.

He hears a noise from behind him and he whips around, regarding the source of the sound. It is a woman, brown hair pulled back from her face with a rubber band. Her eyes are soft as they look at him, and he meets her gaze with defiance.

"Who are you?" he asks, though he knows the answer already. This is Jane Foster, his brother's human lover. A mortal. How he had once hoped to know his brother's weakness, to meet her and send her far, far away! Now, though, he feels sadness, for this is what his brother misses most in his life. He supposes that his brother would very much like to be in his shoes right now, and the thought of his brother wanting something that Loki has delights him greatly.

"Who are _you_?" she retorts, all fire and no comfort.

"Your lover's brother," he says, choosing his words carefully. He does not know if Thor has told Jane everything about Asgard and its inhabitants yet.

"Loki, then," she says, sounding rather pleased with herself. How humans enjoy the feeling of being right! He nods to affirm her statement. "Well, Loki," she continues. "Where's your brother? Where's Thor? And how did you get here?"

"In reverse order," he says with a smirk, "I'm not precisely sure on how I arrived in what I presume to be your garden. Though, if I may say so, it is quite lovely. Thor is currently in Asgard, where we live, and I bet he's trying to get back to you. I have no brother; Thor is not my brother."

She stares at him, mouth gaping. "Wait," she says in surprise. "Thor is your brother! You are both the sons of Odin."

"Not quite, Jane Foster," he replies. "But I'm afraid I cannot speak much on the matter." The less she knows, the better it will be for everyone.

"Okay," she says hesitantly. "How are you here while Thor is not?"

"We are not attached at the hip," he says with a sneer. "Not like you and your friend."

"Don't bring Darcy into this!" she exclaims. "Now answer my question!"

"Dear mortal," he says, sickingly sweet, "Thor is injured. I am injured. We just endured something beyond what your mind could possibly begin to comprehend. This, I presume, is a dream created by my idle mind while in sleep. Don't ask me why you're here; I'm not sure why I'm here either. The universe is often quite temperamental; nothing is as it seems. Thor will return to you soon, I'm sure."

"This is…this is all a dream?" she asks hesitantly. "It seems so real!"

"It is a rare occurrence that two consciously-thinking beings enter a dream together, but it is not unheard of. Now leave, so that I may return to peaceful sleep," he says.

Jane looks at him, and suddenly, her gaze becomes quite fearful. Her eyes, once brown and kind, turn red and menacing. She grows in inches and feet and leaps and bounds, until she towers over him. Her skin, before a pale ivory, becomes sapphire blue and uneven.

Laufey.

Loki jumps back, trying to get away from his true blood father, but the Frost Giant is far too quick. Laufey wraps a frigid hand around Loki's neck, pulling him close.

"Never forget me," Laufey growls. "I am you and you are me. I cannot die."

Loki tries to speak, but the grip around his neck is too tight; it is cutting off his air. He gasps, pushing hard against Laufey, pushing back his blood-father, and then suddenly, he is released.

"Loki!" a voice yells, and he opens his eyes. Thor, his brother in all that counts and in all but blood, leans over him, holding his head in his large hands.

Loki looks around, observing that he is in the infirmary of the castle in Asgard. The memories rush back to him, eliminating the harsh reminders of the dream-turned-nightmare.

Thor, he notices, has a white bandage around his shoulder. Sighing softly, Loki turns his head, forcing his brother to release his head.

"I'm fine," he whispers, his voice weak from disuse, though he had just used it in the dream.

"I was worried about you," Thor says. "You were shaking."

"Well, I'm fine. Takes more than a nightmare to kill me off, brother," Loki says with a grin. Hesitantly, Thor smiles back.

"Are we still brothers?" he asks quietly. "After what you said…"

Loki's smile fades as he ponders his brother's question. "If you will have me as your brother," he replies slowly. He does not deserve the bonds of brotherhood, not after what he has said and done. But all the same, he wants to return to the way they were as children, before Loki knew that he was a Frost Giant and before Thor got _too_ airheaded.

"Yes, of course, Loki," Thor says. "When have I ever denied you anything?"

"Several times," Loki says with a laugh. "When you wouldn't let me read because you wanted to play hide-and-seek, when you fought me for the last apple in the bowl…" But these things, he knows, prove that they are brothers despite all reservations, despite all blood misgivings.

"Well, alright…alright then," Thor mumbles. "Good." He is, for once in his life, at a loss for words. But more quietness from the elder brother would perhaps do him good.

In the silence that follows, Loki examines his injuries as a wolf does after a battle. He notices that he has bandages wrapped around his right arm and shoulder, and he wishes that his magic was stronger so that he could simply make the broken bones mend themselves. But he needs time to rest, without angry nightmares, to regain his strength for such magic.

And then, the peace is interrupted by none other than Odin, their father. He walks in, cool and confident, and sits beside Loki's bed. Thor beams at him, but Loki does little more than give a short, brisk nod.

"I'm glad to see that you are awake, Loki," Odin says. "And lucky for you, you had Thor watching over you." Thor grins as Loki rolls his eyes. He is beyond caring about the injustice of it all now, but really, he needs his rest.

"Son," Odin says, addressing Thor, "Could you leave Loki and me alone for a moment? I'm sure that Sif would love to see you right now." Thor nods obediently and dashes out the door, but not before carefully patting Loki's good shoulder.

Odin and Loki gaze at each other, and the silence is deafening.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_

**Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed! You are all fantastic! **


	3. III

**Author's Note: Thank you to all of my lovely reviewers! You keep me going, and you're the reason why I turned this chapter out so quickly. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all besides my plot. **

Loki looks at Odin, waiting respectively for him to speak first. He has found that showing respect is a good way of getting what one wants, and he definitely wants something. He wants answers, answers to the thousands of questions clouding up his head.

"I am very proud of you, Loki," Odin says quietly. "You showed real strength there at the Bifrost, mental and physical. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that no one thought you could ever be that strong."

Loki takes the unintentional insult in stride, nodding along with the All-Father as he has so often had to do. Thor, on the other hand, gets his opinions carefully listened to and weighted, compared, to his father's edicts. Loki has long become accustomed to waiting in the shadows of the throne room until he is called upon to speak.

He sees it as it is. Thor is the golden child, and that is the way it always was and the way that it will always be. It is a fact that he has spent a long time accepting, but he does not let it get to him any longer. Not now, now when he knows the truth. Not now, now when he knows that he is a Frost Giant runt, hated by all that see him, even his own kind.

He supposes that he brought some of it upon himself. As a child, he was not exactly the innocent young boy that Thor was. Thor was blissful and perfect; never would Thor do something like put salt in someone's afternoon tea or turn a bouquet of flowers into a bouquet of oily, slippery fish. Loki, on the other hand, had a flair for mischief that he is not ashamed to say ever went away. Even now, with Odin sitting at his bedside, he cannot dash away thoughts of tricks to play and jokes to make. It is in his being.

He learned long ago to love the magic and the mischief, for they, unlike the Asgardians around him, loved him in return. Magic always followed his command willingly and stayed beside him, even in his darkest hour. If he has to be lonely amongst beings, he figures, he might as well have friends amongst the ethereal.

"Thank you, father," he says docilely. But this is not what Loki wants to be talking about. He needs to find out why. He needs to find out…

"You look fatigued," Odin says, and softly, he places a hand upon Loki's thin shoulder. "Should we continue this discussion another time, Loki?"

"No," Loki replies quickly. "We need to do this now." Before you forget, he thinks. Before you fall into another one of those sleeps. Before Thor bounces back in, awaiting his impending kingship.

"Fine, Loki," Odin says. And it is then, then, that Loki realizes something that he never did before. It never happened before, he thinks, and that is why it feels so strange and different.

"You don't call me 'son' anymore," Loki accuses Odin. "You still call Thor 'son', but never me anymore. Is it…is it because I'm not yours? Is it because I'm the useless runt of a Frost Giant king?" He pauses for breath. "You're still my father, in my eyes at least. And Thor is still my brother, regardless of how much of an idiot he keeps proving himself to be. So how am I no longer your son?"

Odin looks at him, and Loki thinks that for the first time, the All-Father has no words to speak. It is something he should like to capture forever in his mind, the occurrence is so rare.

"Loki," he says. Loki simply stares at him, and Odin corrects himself. "Son, you are still so dear to me. I'm sorry if calling you by your name offended you, but I truly meant no offense. You are still, despite your unfortunate blood, my youngest son."

Loki is not called the God of Lies for nothing, and he can sense that Odin is telling a lie right now. Still, he chooses not to call him out on it. Perhaps the All-Father will manage to correct himself later.

"But yet," Loki says, his voice rising with each word. "Remember what you told me? Do you remember? You, you, you told me that you had taken me for a reason. I was to be some tool, no more than an object for you to use, to unite Jotunheim and Asgard. Is that no longer true? A son is not an object to be used. An object is not your son. Which one am I, All-Father? Which one?"

"You are not a tool, son," Odin says carefully. "You are my son. I once had hopes to bring the Frost Giants and Asgardians to a peace settlement through you. I figured that if you grew up like the gods, if you were taught to act like the gods, then you could bring a new era of peace to our peoples. I thought of sending you back to Jotunheim, where you would rightfully ascend as king of the Frost Giants, son."

"But I am still in your so-called 'plan', then!" Loki shouts. He struggles to sit up, anxious to meet his father's eyes directly. "You still want to use me!"

"Yes," Odin admits quietly. "But you yourself killed Laufey. You sacrificed your blood father to save me, an Asgardian not related to you except by adoption. If you were to take your place as king of the Frost Giants, my son, then through your sacrifice, we could all live in peace." He pauses, resting his hand over Loki's. Loki does not draw back, not yet. His anger has not quite reached its peak. "I made a terrible mistake once, Loki. That mistake was not telling you earlier about your true heritage. But son, I will never do that again. The truth will be all that is told now."

Loki grins, his good humor once more returning, though the veins of anger remain in his mind. "I can't promise that _I'll_ tell the truth, father," he smirks.

"I never expected that, son," Odin says with a small smile. "You have made quite the lifestyle of lies, and I doubt that even I could stop you. But," he says warningly. "If I ever catch you going beyond the jokes and tricks of your youth, if you ever try to do that which you have done once again, I cannot promise that I will be so lenient."

Loki nods. "Of course."

"Do you understand, now?" Odin asks. "I only hid the truth from you because I did not want to see you get hurt. You…you were always so much smaller, so much weaker, than Thor. Imagine if every Asgardian knew that one of their princes was actually a member of the people they so feared! You could not step from the door without being accosted. Now they know, but they also know that you alone saved me from certain death. They know of your sacrifice."

Loki does not think that it is such a sacrifice, the patricide that he has committed. He never knew his father; he never felt love for his father. Laufey was simply a Frost Giant, a being to be feared above pretty much all else. But he nods along with his true father, the All-Father. For now, at least, he is understood and he understands, and the world is right again.

Of course, this fragile peace is broken by that one who always seems to ruin the best of perfect moments.

Thor.

Thor is grinning in his window, hanging on desperately to the branch of a tree.

"Hello Loki!" he shouts through the window, waving his hand. "Hello father!"

Odin does not admonish Thor, for the offense is not really so bad. "You might want to get down from there," he says instead, hoping that Thor will get the hint. Of course, being the duller of the two sons, the blond man does not understand. He smiles and whoops, acting far younger than he ought to be.

And then, suddenly, Thor is falling fast. Loki sees his hand disappear from the branch, but it is just enough time to act. He shoots out the magic, employing it to his will to save his brother from an unpleasant fall. Gently, he uses the magic to glide Thor to the ground, dropping him only when he is two feet above the grass.

Without a word, Odin leaps up from his chair and goes down the stairs to meet his eldest son.

Loki struggles to stand, but he manages. He walks the short distance to the window, looking down at the scene below. He sees Odin moving over to the rising body of Thor, and a smile graces the All-Father's face.

Not a thanks is given to Loki, but he thinks that maybe he prefers it this way. This is normal, this is the usual. And even though it is a rather unfortunate situation, he sort of even likes it.

Because amongst the chaos of the universe, at least one thing, however unpleasant, remains constant.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


	4. IV

**Author's Note: Sorry that it took me a while to update! The next update may be a little slow in coming, but we will see. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters, objects, or places. I own only my plot.**

Loki slowly recuperates from his injuries. They are small, and he would fix them with his magic if he were strong enough. But he is not yet fully recovered, so his magic will not often bend to his will for the period of time necessary to heal his wounds. He is surprised that he was able at all to help Thor when he fell from the tree, but he supposes that people often doing impossible things when they must, and he does not ask questions.

Life works in mysterious ways, he notices one day. He has watched the ways of the Asgardians, how they live each of their days. They grow older, unless one is of course a god or goddess of youth, but they never die. Though their bones may creak and their muscles may ache, they will never die of old age. Sure, a god or goddess can die in battle. But if the Midgardians love them enough, if they have enough support of their followers, then they can be resurrected.

Midgardians, the mortals, on the other hand, cannot ever be reborn. Mortals live their lives, hopefully to the fullest, and then they grow old. Their heads grow weary and their hair turns shades of grey and pristine white. And then, they die glorious deaths. Most of their deaths, Loki notices, tend to occur in beds, with their loved ones looking over them. He thinks it might be nice to have someone watch you as you die, so that you are never alone, even in your very darkest hour.

He does not think that any of the Asgardians will grant him such a courtesy.

Loki rises up from his bed, running a pale hand through his dark hair. He looks so much unlike them. And sometimes, he wonders what path his body will take. Will he live forever, as the Asgardians do? Or will he die due to old age, as the mortals do? Or perhaps, being a Jotunn, he will endure another situation entirely.

Whichever way it goes, he hopes that he will never again have to fight his brother as he did a week ago at the Bifrost.

Anger, he knows, should never be built up for an age as his was. For years he lived under the presumption that he was simply the lesser son of Odin, but an Asgardian all the same. He stood in Thor's rather large shadow, but it was not altogether an unpleasant place to be. Sure, he did not get the same advantages that his elder brother got. Sure, he was often ridiculed by his brother's lofty friends. But all the same, he lived a lovely life. He was a god, or so he thought. If he had wanted anything, it could have been his, though perhaps second-hand and passed down from Thor.

Then, the bomb had dropped. Odin, the god he had once thought to be his father, revealed who Loki truly was. He was a Frost Giant, and not even a normal one at that; he was simply the runt of an ungrateful Jotunn king. And even worse than that, Odin saw him as simply a tool, an instrument of peace. Loki was nothing to him, nothing but an object to be used when the time became right.

From that moment on, Loki had known that he had no place amongst the gods. He was unwanted everywhere he went; he had no proper place to be anymore. The people of Asgard did not know his true identity, but they all the same still sensed that something was rather different about the All-Father's youngest son.

Loki had then done the unmentionable; he had betrayed Odin and all the Asgardians. He let the Frost Giants into the palace. He let them break the fragile borders. And even worse, he let them get to the All-Father, something that everyone had been working for centuries to avoid.

But then, something inside of him had changed. His goals, his wishes, his soul changed. And in that moment, he realized what his goal had been all along. All he had ever wanted, all that he had ever been trying to do, was to be the equal of his brother. He held nothing at all against Thor. The situation itself had been created by Odin, not by his eldest son.

And so, Loki had taken revenge over the being that had created the whole problem in the first place: his true blood father, Laufey. He had committed the worst crime of all: patricide. And thus, he had not truly expected to survive his battle with Thor at the Bifrost. So he played it safe, fighting back just enough to convince Thor that he meant to fight fair. And Thor, who had never been the more intelligent of the two brothers, completely fell for his trick.

So the two brothers fought, and Loki fell first.

And then, when all had seemed right and his plan was coming to fruition, Thor had decided to do a very strange thing. He had begun to destroy the rainbow bridge, and thus destroy any hope of ever seeing Jane again.

And Loki had changed his mind and left his path. He had stopped his brother from losing all hope due to a very foolish action.

And now, Loki stands by the window, looking down at the gardens below. Sif and Thor sit side-by-side upon a stone bench. He has an arm wrapped around her strong shoulders, but Loki does not think that it will ever come to more than friendship.

If Thor loved his Jane enough to sacrifice ever seeing her again to save his world, then he doubts that he will simply leave her for a Valkyrie.

Loki turns away from the two friends, straightening his green coat. He was finally able to obtain some respectable clothes the other day, to replace the worn tunic he had been wearing for days now. He is currently dressed in an emerald coat, a black tunic, and black trousers. He leaves off his shoes for now; he has nowhere in particular to go.

But then, his door slams open and a particularly annoying head peeks its way in.

"Loki!" Thor exclaims. "You're awake."

"Was I not at some point?"

"Well, I came in two hours ago and you were sleeping like the dead," Thor says. "I don't think you were even breathing." Lovely side effect of being a Frost Giant. "But you looked peaceful so I let you be. And then I went to find Sif, because we needed to talk and now I'm back and you're awake."

"Congratulations," Loki says sarcastically. "Amazing day you've had so far."

"I know!" Thor says. "But are you feeling better?"

"Infinitely so, brother. At least physically."

"Not mentally?" For once, Thor seems to be showing intelligence. Of course, he chose precisely the wrong moment at which to employ it.

"Brother, do you know of the secrets that the All-Father kept from us?" Loki asks. Thor looks confused for a moment, but then he shakes his head.

"What secrets do you speak of?" he asks, puzzled.

Loki takes a deep breath and leans against the windowsill, the sharp wood poking into his lower back. "Thor, I am not your brother by blood, but by adoption." He pauses, and when Thor nods, he continues. "I am a Frost Giant, one of those despised Jotunns."

"I knew that, Loki," Thor replies quietly. "Those unfortunate facts do not change the fact that I still consider you dearer to me than anyone who has ever lived, even Jane. You are my brother, and the simple matter of blood relation does not change that."

"Thanks for the assurance," Loki mutters. "But did Father tell you why I was adopted?"

"He told me that you were left alone, and that no one seemed to be responsible for you. You were just a baby, Loki, why wouldn't the All-Father save you?" Thor says. He walks over to the bed and perches on its side, facing his young brother directly.

"Perhaps he found me weak, that is possible," Loki replies. "But he had a greater purpose still. He was planning to use me to unite our kingdom with that of the Frost Giants. The All-Father raised me as an Asgardian child, by your side. He educated me in books, facts, and figures, and I studied magic on my own. He was going to send me back to Jotunheim, as a refined, pristine Jotunn prince. And there, he figured, I could bring Laufey down and establish peace between the two kingdoms." Loki draws in a deep breath. "And that is truly all that he saw me as, brother. A tool to be used when the time was right."

Thor can do nothing but stare at his brother, finally laid bare for him to see. He had always known that Loki was the darker, more secretive, of the two young men. But he had not known how betrayed he was, how meaningless Loki was to their father.

He watches as Loki folds in on himself, burying his face in his pale, long-fingered hands. His shoulders shake a little, and Thor realizes that this is probably the first time that Loki has ever told anyone these terrible things. And even though the offense was not against Thor, he feels the same betrayal in his heart, the same hurt.

Slowly, Thor stands up and walks to his brother's side. He lays a hand upon one of his quivering shoulders, and Loki looks up. His normally pale face is tinted red from crying, and Thor wonders just how long he has known this and had to keep it a secret.

"This doesn't change anything," Thor whispers. "You're still my brother, regardless of what lies you have been told all your life. We grew up together, Loki. You're still my brother."

"Thank you," Loki says, and Thor thinks that this is the first time that his brother has ever thanked anyone for anything. "But this does not change what the All-Father did to me, all those years." Thor notices that Loki will no longer call Odin "father", and he supposes that this is simply indicative of worse to come. And he fears that he will not be able to stop his brother when the time comes.

"I know," Thor replies. He reaches across Loki's face to brush his black bangs from his eyes, something he used to do all the time when they were children. He used to hate not seeing peoples' eyes, for that was the only way that he could see their opinion of him. Loki had always been able to tell everything about a person from just watching them walk or hearing them speak.

"And what do you suppose I do about?" Loki asks desperately. "He's the All-Father. I can't exactly murder him as I did Laufey!"

"No, you cannot," Thor murmurs. "But you can escape."

"W-what do you mean?" Loki asks. "Escape? How? I'm not exactly welcome in most places nowadays, in case you've forgotten."

"Well, brother," Thor says, a small smile gracing his lips. "When you've been up here resting, Heimdall and some others have been repairing the Bifrost."

"What?"

"Turns out it can totally be saved," Thor says. "They're actually going to finish tomorrow, they said. I was going to wait until then to tell you, but…"

"There is no way that the All-Father or Heimdall are going to let us use the Bifrost, brother," Loki says. "Remember what happened last time? You got exiled and I got crowned king. Not the best situation ever, I would say. And most Asgardians would agree with me."

"Yes, but maybe we don't need their permission," Thor says, a persuasive tone in his voice. "You can start the Bifrost yourself. With your staff."

"Yes…" Loki sighs. "But remember how much trouble that brought last time?"

"We're not going anywhere dangerous this time, brother. We're going to Midgard."

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


	5. V

**Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. I read all of your reviews and take any suggestions to heart. Feedback is very important to a writer, after all! **

**This is sort of the second part of the story now, if you wish to view it as such. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any people, objects, or places recognizable in the Marvel franchises. I own only the plot.**

Loki spends the rest of the day reclaiming his ability to walk. It has been quite a while since he has gone far from his room, and he figures that if he and Thor are going to Midgard then he ought to be able to walk once he gets there. He does not want to make a fool of himself in front of anybody, least of all the mortal humans.

He thinks that his brother's plan is more than a little foolish, but he also thinks that he might just be able to twist it to his will. Ever since the All-Father told him of his true "purpose" in Asgard, Loki has been dying to exact revenge in some way. The chance was never presented to him before as it is now.

Loki is a gifted liar, and he can now use that to his advantage once more. In addition, he will be only lying to the All-Father and the people of Asgard, not his brother. His brother would perhaps be able to see through him a little more ably now after the lies that Loki told him during his imprisonment in that Midgardian cell. Now he knows what one of Loki's lies looks like. But, Loki knows, he will no longer be telling lies to Thor. Thor, of everyone in Asgard, has forgiven him and understood him. He does not want to break their fragile alliance with a petty falsehood.

But he can lie to the Asgardians, for he is no longer one of them. He never really was, anyway, but now it is far more certain that they are very different than he is. Two types of beings such as these were never meant to get along, after all. So Loki has no qualms about lying to them and to the All-Father.

He has his materials ready and the trick is in place. Now, all he has to do is line up the dominoes and watch them fall.

Keeping the smirk off of his face, Loki limps over to one of the All-Father's many, obedient servants. He draws a sealed letter out of his trouser pocket and hands it to the man.

"Give this to the All-Father at nightfall," he says quietly. "And do not open it yourself. If you do, well, I can give you a fate worse than that of the Frost Giants."

The man nods hastily, tucking it inside his tunic. "Yes, my prince," he says.

"See that it is done. And remember; do not give him the letter until nightfall. That part is particularly important," Loki says as he turns away, hurrying off as best he can to continue his part of the game.

He goes to his bedroom and gazes at his reflection in the mirror. He needs a way to fit in with the Midgardians, for his godly tunic and trousers would stand out worse than a fairy-tale princess walking the streets of New York City. Closing his eyes, he waves a pale hand across his body, whispering words that only he knows.

When he opens his eyes and looks into the mirror, he grins. He is now dressed in a wool coat, a simple black suit with a white shirt and green tie. Perfect.

Of course, he will soon have to attend to Thor, and that will probably not be quite as easy. His older brother has always had a rather stubborn streak, and he will likely not react well to having magic performed upon him.

In the meantime before he has to go find Thor, Loki sits on his bed and flips through an old book of his. He tries to memorize as many more spells as he can before they leave to go to the Bifrost, for he will not be able to bring any of his resources with him. He already knows plenty of magic, but he supposes that it cannot hurt to learn more.

And then, chaos hits as Thor bursts into his room. He is carrying a bag over his shoulder, and his hammer is clasped in his left hand.

"I'm ready, brother," Thor says, and he is so serious that Loki cannot help but laugh.

"You don't need all that!" Loki says. "Leave it all here, if you like. But you can't bring anything from here to Midgard!"

"Okay," Thor says, trusting the words of his younger brother. He lays his bag down on the floor, but he keeps his hammer in his hand.

"You can't bring that either," Loki says. "It's too heavy to go with us."

"Oh." Obediently, Thor sets Mjolnir on the floor, and then crosses his arms across his chest. "Now what, brother?"

"Come here." Loki stands up from the bed, straightening out his new coat. His brother follows him over to the mirror, and together they regard their images in the glass.

"We need to make you look more like your precious humans," Loki says. "If you can just stand still for a moment and close your, I can do it." Thor nods hesitantly, but he stands as still as he ever has.

Loki ponders turning him into a woman, or perhaps a serpent, for a second. But then he remembers that he promised himself never to tell a lie or perform a trick upon his brother, so he resists the urge. Instead, he waves his hand across Thor's body, picturing exactly how he should look in his mind.

And there it is. Thor opens his eyes with a gasp. He is dressed in a red coat, a brown shirt and jeans. Loki had tried as best he could to replicate his brother's style of clothes from his time on Midgard.

"Ready?" Loki asks, breathing softly beside his brother. Thor turns to him with a wide grin and wraps an arm around Loki's shoulders.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" he says, pulling his black-haired brother with him.

The two sneak across the newly-rebuilt rainbow bridge, watching anxiously for passersby. As they go, Loki distracts his mind from the task at hand by thinking on what shall soon happen in a few hours. Then, it shall be nightfall. Then, the servant will give the All-Father Loki's carefully-sealed letter. And then, Odin will open it, and Loki can just imagine the expression that will grace his face as he reads it.

_All-Father,_

_You are probably wondering where your sons are now, or, at least where your eldest son is. I can assure you that he is fine, for he is in my care. _

_I have taken your eldest son with me as a form of revenge against the lies that you told me throughout my childhood and adolescence. No longer am I a pawn in your game of alliances and treaties. Now, it is your golden child who is the pawn, for I have taken him from you and there is no way for you to ensure his return._

_We are going far away, and not even Heimdall will be able to divine our position._

_So I bid you good evening, All-Father, and may I say that I hope we shall never meet again._

_-Loki Laufeysson_

He had signed the letter with his "true name", for he no longer considers himself a son of Odin. He uses that now as the final twist of the dagger into the All-Father's eternal heart, for not only have father and son become estranged, but now the son refuses to even acknowledge the father.

Loki and Thor make their way to the rainbow bridge, expecting to see Heimdall guarding the Bifrost as usual.

Instead, no one stands there. No one is blocking their entrance to the Bifrost.

Loki does not tell Thor, but he is responsible for Heimdall's disappearance. This is not the first time he has had to divert someone from attending to their tasks, and he is not ashamed to say that he will do nearly anything to do so.

This time, it was as simple as enticing a young maiden to approach Heimdall and request that he divine her lover for her. As his mind was occupied, Loki snuck up behind him and knocked him out with a small spell. He then dragged him away from the scene and paid the girl quite dearly.

Child's play, really.

Silently, Loki walks over to the center of the Bifrost. He plunges his staff, the only Asgardian artifact that he had brought with him, into the appropriate slot. He watches the magic swirl around them, and then he looks to Thor.

His brother stands, ready, by the opening. He is breathing hard, and Loki remembers that the last time he was here, it was quite unpleasant.

He steps away from his staff and walks to his brother. "Are you alright?" he asks.

"Yes. It is so strange, though, to be so close to that which you have been dreaming of for so long."

Loki does not remark upon the fact that it has been less than a month since Thor saw his mortal lover.

With a grin, Loki loops his hand through his brother's, and the two step off into nothing.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


	6. VI

**Author's Note: Here we go, another chapter! Many apologies for the late update. Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. **

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it from the Marvel franchise, I do not own it. I own only the plot.**

It is midnight, and for the life of her, Jane Foster cannot bring herself to fall asleep. She tosses and turns in her bed, but sleep refuses to come to her.

It is because he is not here beside her, she knows. If he were here, sleeping in the bed next to her, then she could perhaps catch some sleep for once.

It has been over two weeks now, and Thor has not returned to her.

He promised her, he promised her that he would return. But sometimes, she knows, a promise is not enough. She will not be satisfied until she can fall asleep with him beside her, until she can wake up in the morning to find him cooking eggs for breakfast, until she go off to work each day with a kiss from him on the cheek.

Jane knows that if he could, he would have already returned to her.

So, then, she knows, something must be keeping him in Asgard, away from her. She hopes for his sake that something _very_ important is keeping him there.

She misses him with all of her heart, and it is starting to show. She snaps at Darcy when she has to go to work. She cannot even talk to Erik without a rough tone to her voice. Life does not hold the appeal for her that it once did. Once upon a time, she lived each day for its worth, hoping that she might just meet the right guy, eventually. But now that she has, she only wants him back.

So when the clock on her bedside strikes two in the morning, and Darcy bursts into her room, she cannot help but sit up in anticipation.

"What is it?" she asks, wide awake from lack of falling asleep in the first place.

Darcy grins widely. "I think he's back," she says. "One of those tornado things came again, in the same spot as last time. Erik's got the car ready and he already explained it to SHIELD. They're totally cool with us going out by ourselves, but if it's really him then they'll want to question him or something."

Jane let a smile grace her lips for the first time in what seemed like years. "Well, let's get going then!" She rolled out of bed and padded over to her closet, pulling out jeans and a tank top. Darcy flitted out of the room to get ready herself.

Jane could feel her heart racing in her chest as she changed her clothes. Now, finally, she might get to see her Thor, her wondrous lover, again. And hopefully, he will be able to stay for a longer time now.

She runs down the stairs of her new home, courtesy of SHIELD. Grabbing her jacket off the back of a chair, she sprints across the driveway to her fully-outfitted-for-Thor-tracking car and hops in the driver's seat.

Jane looks behind her to Darcy and Erik, and they smile back at her. "Ready?" she asks. Without waiting for the answers, she starts the car and drives to that place that she knows so well. The place where she last saw Thor.

True to Darcy's words, a vicious, dark tornado is forming right in front of their eyes. Jane cannot help the gasp that leaves her throat as she watches it grow stronger and stronger.

And then, before she even has a chance to get out of the car, the tornado is gone.

In its place are two figures, lying on the ground.

Jane jumps out of the car, Erik and Darcy quick behind her. She rushes over to the site, anxiously searching for Thor. She finds him quickly, for his hair is like a beacon in the night, and goes to his side. She, in her love for the God of Thunder, completely misses the other man who had accompanied her lover.

Said other man groans and struggles against gravity to sit up, running a pale hand through his midnight-dark hair. He glances over at his brother next to him to find a brunette woman touching his face and crying bittersweet tears.

He groans again. Love. Never saw the sentimentality of it. Sigyn, his one true love, would not have cried for him. She would have scolded him for being late, of course, but never would she have cried these soft, yearning tears for him. He would have kept his word to the letter, and she would never have had any cause to doubt his return.

The case does not seem to be as such with Thor and his mortal lover, Jane Foster.

His gaze is yanked from them as a warm hand brushes his shoulder. He looks up to find a middle-aged man glancing down at him.

"Which one are you?" the man muses aloud.

He smirks. "Give a guess, oh knowledgeable one."

"Loki."

"Yep, nailed it," Loki says. "And which mortal are you?" he mimics.

"Erik Selvig." He points at a brown-haired girl beside him. "That's Darcy."

"Not hesitant about giving out information, now, are we?" Loki asks with a grin. This may turn out to be a lot more fun than he thought.

An elbow digs into his side. "Shut up, Loki," his brother orders.

"This is Jane," Thor says, introducing his lover. "Jane, this is my brother, Loki."

"Are you the one that made Thor leave me?" Jane asks.

Loki simply looks at her, and she turns away. "What's done is done," Thor says in a desperate attempt to keep the peace. "All mistakes have been corrected."

Jane nods once and changes the subject. "How did you two get here this time?" she asks.

"Heimdall is not the only one with the ability to command the Bifrost," Thor replies. "Loki, too, can use it to his will." He shoots a glance at his brother. "This time, he used it to aid in my return to you."

"Well, then," Jane says hesitantly. "For that I give you much thanks, Loki."

He does not know what to say to thanks for his deeds, having so rarely been afforded such words. Instead, Loki simply nods, once, and hopes that it will suffice among the mortals.

Jane grins then, her flighty temperament showing through. "Time to go, then!" she exclaims, standing up from where she had been kneeling. Thor follows her, and reaches a hand down to help up Loki as well.

Loki, though, stands up on his own, without his brother's aid. Thor gives him a concerned look but the younger man shrugs it off, instead walking off to the car.

Darcy catches up to him, jogging to keep up with his quick strides. "So, uh, do you have a girlfriend?" she asks.

He does not even look at her. "Several, and not all of them women."

Ignoring her wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression, he hops in the car behind Erik and his brother.

He settles into his seat, not bothering with the seatbelt. And he thinks that maybe this could all work out after all, now that his brother is happy once more.

Perhaps he too can find happiness amongst these strange beings.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_

**Author's Note 2: I know that seems a little ambiguous there at the end. However, I can assure you that Loki will not magically fall in love with Darcy or any other human (male or female). I like to believe that he is happy romantically with his Sigyn…and all the other flings he has had.**


	7. VII

**Author's Note: Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers! I'm so sorry for my extremely prolonged absence – a number of things, all having to do with that great miscreant known as Real Life, got in the way. But I'm back to writing now. Isn't that grand?**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it is not mine. The plot, however, is of my own creation.**

Loki awakes to one of the strangest smells that he has ever had the fortune of smelling. It seems to him to be some odd mixture of the scent of breakfast and home, two things that he has not smelled in far too long.

He stands up, shaking the sleep from his bones with a twist of his shoulders. The sun beams in through the window, and he is more than a little annoyed to learn that he had slept the entire night without curtains, or at least those blinds that mortals love, covering the clear glass. Someone could have spied on him in vulnerable sleep, and the thought unsettles him a little.

But he looks at the clock and notices the late hour, so he goes to the chair to pick up his clothes from yesterday. Instead of his charmed suit, he finds a note written in what is obviously a woman's handwriting, filled with curls and i's dotted with miniature flower heads.

_Loki,_

_Your old clothes looked really uncomfortable, so I borrowed some of Dr. Blake's for you. They're probably pretty big on you, since you're thinner than he was, but they should work until we can take you to the store. _

_Erik's making breakfast in the kitchen. _

_-Darcy_

Darcy. That girl who asked him all those questions last night. With a muted groan, he moves the note aside to find a pile of carefully-folded clothes. He picks them up and shakes them out to find a long-sleeved grey shirt and jeans. Ignoring Darcy's stab at his height, he quickly changes into the Midgardian apparel.

The clothes are a little bit too big on him, especially the jeans that keep sagging off of his waist. Sighing, he steps from his borrowed bedroom and pads into the kitchen, trying to smooth back his unkempt hair as he goes.

"Loki!" Thor exclaims as he walks in the kitchen. "You're awake, finally."

Loki shoots him a dark look and sits down in an empty chair at the table. Instantly, Erik puts a plate of eggs and toast in front of him with a smile. "Eat up," the scientist says. "You're too thin!"

"No, I'm not," Loki mutters, but he digs into the food anyway. As silence fills the room, he looks up to discover four pairs of eyes staring at him as he eats. "What?" he asks, annoyed.

"You're kind of handsome," Darcy says dreamily, her head balanced on her hand. "Not like, Thor, of course…" Loki mentally rolls his eyes at the expression of comparison. Contrary to what his brother had said, he supposes that not too much is different after all between Asgard and Midgard. "But you have pretty eyes. And I like your hair. Is it dyed, or is it naturally so dark?"

"Darcy…" Jane says warningly, playfully slapping the side of her face. "Don't bother our guest, now. I'm sure he's quite tired after his long night." She looks expectantly to him, and he softly clears his throat.

"Yes, yes, I am," he stutters out. "Very tired." He is not in his element here. It was one thing to visit Thor in that Midgardian prison cell, but it is quite another thing to engage in casual conversation with three inquisitive humans. He misses the peacefulness of the Vanirs; they had always welcomed him and provided him with a few weeks of bliss should he have needed it. They, unlike the Jotuns and the Asgardians, had always had kind words for Loki.

"Is everything alright, brother?" Thor asks quietly, looking intently to Loki.

He nods quickly. "Oh, yes, of course." But everything is not alright.

Loki always had to sacrifice a lot for his brother, even when they were younger. If only one horse in the stables was fit to ride at the moment, then Thor would have had the honor of riding it. If a pretty girl decided to come up and talk to the young princes, then Thor was to delight her with tales of his glory on the battlefield and Loki was to stand behind him and provide encouragement and verification to his words.

And even as they grew older, he could sense that his sacrifices would soon grow larger. He had to give up his obedience to the All-Father and go with Thor to Jotunheim, for what else was a loyal younger brother to do? He could not exactly ignore his elder brother's wishes and remain in the safety of the palace, risking being called a coward or worse. No, he had had to follow along, though he offered very little help in the actual battle portion of their trip. And he had noticed something, then, that he had never noticed before. His skin, when touched by a Frost Giant, had turned the sapphire blue typical of the vile creatures.

How could he, Loki, son of Odin, be a Frost Giant? He had spent days musing on that awful possibility, until Odin himself had confirmed his suspicions: Loki was no better than Laufey, king of the Frost Giants. Loki was in fact a son of Laufey. He was no better than the creatures that the All-Father's forces had worked so hard to push down, no better than the monsters that Asgardian children told each other about around a fire.

And then, he found out that he was expected, by the man he had once called "Father", to bridge an alliance between the Asgardians and the Jotuns. Another sacrifice was then expected him, but this time, he would not bow down to someone else's wishes. He retaliated, and next thing he knew, the king of the gods had entered the Odinsleep.

Just recently, Loki had had to make another sacrifice. After the battle with his brother on the rainbow bridge, he had begun to regain a little of his reputation as a simple trickster and not as a genocidal maniac. Things had been looking up, at least a little bit.

And then his brother had expressed the wish to return to Midgard to see once more his precious Jane Foster, and who was Loki to refuse? So he sacrificed whatever he had built up in his time back in Asgard, and he took his brother to Midgard.

Now, he sits at a table with an aged scientist, a very annoying brunette, Jane Foster, and his brother. He had never before seen such a motley group.

After he finishes his breakfast, Erik whisks the plate away and Jane stands up. "Thor, Loki," she says with a grin. "Time to get you two some new clothes."

If he thought breakfast was bad, Loki cannot bear to think how shopping will be.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


	8. VIII

**A/N: Last chapter. I decided to end here, and I hope that you agree with the ending. Bittersweet and a little open-ended. Thank you again for waiting patiently for me to finally write (and look, I gave you two chapters today!). I love all of you.**

**Disclaimer: I present to you a statement of logic: If you recognize it, then it's not mine. If you don't recognize it, then it's mine. **

Jane and Darcy expected some hardships and trials when they walked into the store. People might stare at the unearthly men, their out-of-place-ness palpable in the hot New Mexico air, walking alongside the two oddball scientists (well, physicist and political science major). Said unearthly men might not understand the concept of shopping, which involves actually purchasing their chosen items, and might simply grab whatever they like from the shelves and walk out.

And those two situations did arise. More than one person, often a young woman, could not tear their eyes away from Thor and Loki. Neither god seemed to mind; in fact, neither of them even seemed to register that people were staring at them. Jane and Darcy noticed, though, and they kept trying to hurry their two charges along.

But Thor and Loki never seemed to want to leave a rack of clothes or a shelf of shoes. Like magpies they were drawn to all things foreign, shiny, or strange, and they were reluctant to follow Darcy and Jane around. Thor was particularly captivated by the wide array of t-shirts with Batman and Spongebob Squarepants emblazoned on their fronts, and Jane was loathe to inform him that those shirts were strictly for young children and would not possibly fit him. Loki, on the other hand, wanted to have every single scarf that he saw on the racks, but only if they were grey, white, green, or black. He definitely had a very defined color palette and style, and Darcy was absolutely determined to break him out of his rarely-chromatic color scheme.

She presented Loki with a nice woven blue scarf with little tassels at the ends, hoping that perhaps he would branch out for a change. She thought that the blue might look nice with his vibrant grey-green eyes; the soft navy blue might even soften them up a bit, make him look less icy and a little warmer. He brushed his hands along the material when she brought it to him, a contemplative look upon his angular features. But once he had felt the blue scarf, he withdrew his hand, and Darcy knew better than to try to force the scarf upon him again. She had heard tales, both mythological and all-too-real, about this particular god. She knew that vexing him would only end in bad things for her, possibly death or maiming. Not exactly what she signed up for.

Meanwhile, Jane was babysitting Thor, trying to prevent him from running off with whatever piece of clothing he picked up from off the shelves or hangers. Like a rambunctious teenager, he grabbed t-shirts and jeans from the racks at random. Jane nodded appreciatively at his selections; as oafish as he may have once appeared, the god of thunder did have remarkable fashion sense. It had certainly showed in that royal red and silver armor that she had once seen him wear.

Loki brushed his hair away from his face, as if he was meaning to focus better on something, but he did not really know what he was looking for, here in this shop. Here on this planet. Everything was so… so different here on Midgard. Here on Earth. Whatever it was the humans liked to call their gift of a planet, with its wondrous mountains and rolling hills and amazing blue waves of water. Asgard was fantastic in its own right, but all the same, Loki could not think of anything on Asgard that was quite the same as some of the strange and fantastical things that he had found on Midgard. And he supposed that any human, upon going to Asgard, would say the same thing about the golden palace, the Rainbow Bridge, the rare relics, and the gods and goddesses that called Asgard their home. Valhalla may be magnificent, sure, but Asgard was magnificent enough for many who lived there. And many humans probably thought the same way about their Earth in comparison to their Heaven. A promised ideal of prosperity and a utopian society may look charming and appealing, but many people often prefer what is here and now over something that seems unattainable at the outset. Loki is most definitely familiar with the unattainable.

Jane leaves Thor's side for a moment, leaving him content with his multi-colored t-shirts. She walks over to Darcy, who is standing at Loki's side with a strange look upon her face.

"Darcy, is everything alright?" Jane asks, leaning against a shelf full of fine men's handkerchiefs. This store really carries anything and everything.

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine. I'm fine," Darcy replies, finally tearing her eyes away from Loki's tall, thin figure.

But Jane followed Darcy's eyes as they moved away from Loki, and Jane knew.

"Darcy…" she begins. "You…really? Him?" She brings her voice down to a whisper, just in case the god of mischief happens to be listening on their conversation. The man in question does, however, seem to be blissfully unaware of the two women standing not five feet away from him. He is entirely absorbed by the scarves and hats in front of him on the shelves, or perhaps he is instead entirely absorbed by his own thoughts.

Darcy lets out a little laugh. "I don't even know, Jane. It's crazy, isn't it? Strange men fall to Earth and suddenly we fall in love with them… It's definitely a perk, I mean, to be around cute guys for once, and not the Feds or some oldie scientists." She takes a deep breath, turning back to look at Loki again. "It's just a really weird coincidence that both you and I each fell in love with these random guys from the land of the gods or whatever."

Jane has been thinking the same thing ever since Loki and Thor fell to Earth a few days ago. When Thor fell, by himself, it felt like Providence was finally smiling upon Jane Foster. Now it just feels like the world is right and destiny is nice for once.

Fate is not so bad after all.

Loki turns away from the shelf and walks over to where they stand, his piercing eyes searching their faces. For what, Jane cannot even begin to hypothesize.

"You requested that I find clothes to wear," he says. "I have found clothes." And there, in his arms, are a few nice dress shirts, two pairs of trousers, a long black coat, and, of course, a scarf. Jane does not question how they appeared there so quickly, but she nods approvingly. Maybe the clothes are a little too formal for day-to-day wear, but at least they are fashionable and probably fit him pretty well.

Thor, on the other hand, is still deliberating over a few graphic t-shirts. Jane grins and decides for him, grabbing two or three t-shirts with various prints on them, some pairs of jeans, and a leather jacket similar to the one that he had worn the first time he fell to Earth. She had rather liked how that looked on him.

They walk to the cashier's counter, the two men's arms full of clothes. Jane pays for it all, putting it on to the credit card that S.H.I.E.L.D. graciously gave her to pay for any "scientific expenses." If they question this purchase, well, she can always claim that these two men are here because of her science, and they needed clothes, after all. But she does not fret for long about what Agent Coulson will think.

They walk out of the store, Thor swinging the bags at his side. Loki strolls beside them, and Jane notices for the first time the long curls of dark hair falling at the nape of his neck, and she swears that the pictures Erik Selvig showed her of this god had him with shorter hair. It would not be the first thing that so-called experts on Norse mythology got wrong. They even seemed to think that Thor had ginger hair. She often wonders what they would think if they ever got to meet Thor and Loki in the flesh. Jane and Darcy had been surprised enough, and they were not even believers.

It is a nice day outside, and really, it is not that hot for once. Jane and Darcy look at each other and smile and the two brothers do not even notice.

It is a nice day outside, and really, all is well with the worlds.

All is well with all of them.


End file.
